Alaska COVID-19 Data Summary: Mar. 9, 2022

COVID-19 DATA SUMMARY – Mar. 9, 2022

Reporting data for Mar. 7 - Mar. 8, 2022

OVERVIEW – 1,435 new cases* | 10 deaths* | 64 hospitalizations | Statewide alert level: high | 59.3% of Alaskans 5+ vaccinated

* - As of the week starting on Feb. 6, newly accounted COVID-19 deaths will be reported weekly on Wednesdays. Please see this webpage for more information on the process used to report COVID-19 deaths: dhss.alaska.gov/dph/epi/id/pages/covid-19/deathcounts.aspx.

Note: Protective measures against the Omicron variant remain the same as for the other COVID variants. Layering protective measures, including masking, handwashing, physical distancing, and testing help to reduce transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Using a self-test before and after travel and large gatherings is advised. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) encourages Alaskans to talk with a healthcare provider or call 646-3322 about getting the COVID-19 vaccine to reduce the severity of illness if they haven’t already done so and to get boosted if eligible.

To check variant data for Alaska, please check the Alaska Coronavirus Variants Dashboard at akvariants.github.io.

TAKE ACTION – Choosing to get vaccinated is the single most important action you can take to protect yourself and your community and to keep our economy strong. Learn more about the vaccines at covidvax.alaska.gov and the CDC’s recommendations for fully vaccinated people at cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html. Vaccine is now available for ages 5 and older. The rates listed below reflect the percentage of Alaskans age 5 and older reported as vaccinated.  

VACCINATIONS – 64.6% of Alaskans age 5 and older have received at least their first vaccine dose.

59.3% of Alaskans 5 and older have been fully vaccinated. The higher the vaccination rate, the more protected community members are from COVID-19. See below for percentages of all fully vaccinated Alaskans ages 5 and older by region:

• Juneau Region: 79.3%
• Y-K Delta Region: 76.2%
• Other Southeast Region - Northern: 74%
• Southwest Region: 69.5%
• Other Southeast Region - Southern: 66.7%
• Anchorage Region: 64.1%
• Northwest Region: 62.1%
• Other Interior Region: 59.6%
• Fairbanks North Star Borough: 51%
• Kenai Peninsula Region: 49%
• Matanuska-Susitna Region: 41.8%

CASES – DHSS today announced 1,435* new people identified with COVID-19 in Alaska.

1,423 were residents of: Bethel Census Area (598 in 22 communities), Kusilvak Census Area (158 in 11 communities), Anchorage (136), Bethel (124), Hooper Bay (45), Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area (45 in 5 communities), Fairbanks (32), Juneau (29), Ketchikan (27), Greater Wasilla Area (25), Nome (23), Nome Census Area (18 in 5 communities), Chevak (17), Eagle River (16), Hoonah-Angoon and Yakutat combined (16 in 3 communities), Valdez (15), Kodiak (13), Kotzebue (11), Northwest Arctic Borough (11 in 4 communities), Greater Palmer Area (10), Soldotna (9), Kenai (7), North Pole (5), Chugiak (4), Healy (4), Sitka (4), Bristol Bay/ Lake and Peninsula combined (3), Homer (3), Copper River Census Area (2), Kenai Peninsula Borough-North (2), Sterling (2), and one each in Delta Junction, Girdwood, Mat-Su Borough, Metlakatla  , North Slope Borough, Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Seward, Utqiaġvik, and Willow. 

12 nonresident cases were identified in:

• Wasilla: 4 with purpose under investigation
• Anchorage: 3 with purpose under investigation
• Bethel Census Area: 3 with purpose under investigation
• Kodiak: 1 with purpose under investigation
• Valdez: 1 with purpose under investigation

* A major testing location in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region experienced some reporting issues throughout the past month, which were resolved yesterday, leading to bulk processing of a number of older cases. These currently are reflected on our dashboard Epi curves as recent; however, the data team is working to move these cases back to true occurrence on the curve when toggled to Onset Date. This case count spike is not reflective of a surge or current case activity, but is an anomaly from lagged reports and data processing.

Forty-eight resident cases and three nonresident cases were added to the state's overall total due to data verification procedures, bringing the total number of Alaska resident cases to 234,865 and the total number of nonresident cases to 7,877.

HOSPITALIZATIONS & DEATHS – There have been a total of 3,668 resident hospitalizations and 1,168 resident deaths.

Fourteen new Alaska resident hospitalizations and ten Alaska resident deaths were reported. Newly accounted COVID-19 deaths are reported on Wednesdays. Please see this webpage for more information on the process used to report COVID-19 deaths: dhss.alaska.gov/dph/epi/id/pages/covid-19/deathcounts.aspx.

The Alaska residents who died were:

• A female resident of Anchorage age 80+
• A female resident of Fairbanks age 80+
• A male resident of Fairbanks in his 70s
• A female resident of Fairbanks in her 40s
• A male resident of Fairbanks in his 40s
• A female resident of Kusilvak Census Area in her 70s
• A female resident of Northwest Arctic Borough in her 70s
• A female resident of Palmer age 80+
• A male resident of Southeast Fairbanks Census Area in his 50s
• A male resident of Wasilla in his 50s

Our thoughts are with their family and loved ones.  

There are currently 64 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and five additional patients who are considered persons under investigation (PUI) for a total of 69 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Three of these patients are on a ventilator. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 4.4%.

TESTING – Data on our testing dashboard are archived and still available, but updates to testing data can now be found on a tab of the cases dashboard: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/af2efc8bffbf4cdc83c2d1a134354074/. DHSS is no longer reporting percent positivity or the cumulative number of tests on our dashboard. This is in part because of the increased use in at-home rapid antigen testing, where results are not reported to the state. In addition, effective today, some testing organizations will only be required to report positive COVID-19 test results and will not need to report negative results to Section of Epidemiology. This change will allow those organizations to focus on reporting positive results and mitigation instead of the time-consuming task of reporting negative results. These two changes make percent positivity a less meaningful metric, which is why DHSS is no longer tracking this on its dashboard. If you have any questions about the data or these changes please email covidquestions@alaska.gov.

ALERT LEVELS – The current statewide alert level – based on the reported number of cases per 100,000 people over the past 7 days – is high (red) at 345.9. For boroughs and census areas: 23 areas are at the high alert level (>100 cases), one area is at the substantial alert level (50-99.99), one area is at the moderate alert level (10-49.99) and three areas are at the low alert level (0-9.99).

Find alert levels for individual boroughs and census areas using the alert levels map on the cases dashboard at www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/ddd52524412b41b690b82b5618735f9e.

Notes: Reports are received electronically, by phone and by fax. Cases are verified, redundancies are eliminated and then cases are entered into the data system that feeds into Alaska’s Coronavirus Response Hub. When there is a high number of reports being received, this may cause delays in getting reports entered and counted. Personnel continue to focus on the effort to process and count reports and minimize the delay from receipt to posting on the hub.

There is a lag between cases being reported on the DHSS data dashboard and what local communities report. Each case is an individual person even if they are tested multiple times. Total tests are a not a count of unique individuals tested and includes both positive and negative results. The current number of hospitalized patients represents more real-time data compared to the cumulative total hospitalizations. Current hospitalizations are reported for all facilities, not just general acute care and critical access facilities. Total number of hospital beds available fluctuate daily as the number of available hospital staff changes. Alert levels are provided to show trends and patterns over time as there can be substantial day-to-day variation in reporting of cases to DHSS. Alert levels show how widespread the virus is in a community relative to its population size and are a good tool to determine weekly trends for specific geographic areas. All data reported in real-time, on a daily basis, should be considered preliminary and subject to change. To view more data visit data.coronavirus.alaska.gov.